AAPD President, Immediate Past President & President of HSHC Quoted on the Increase of Cavities in Young Children Over the Past Decade

September 21, 2012 09:10 AM

Rebecca Stone with Mentor Magazine spoke to AAPD President Dr. Joel Berg, AAPD Immediate Past President Dr. Rhea Haugseth, and Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children President Dr. David Curtis regarding the Centers for Disease Control study on the increase in cavities in preschoolers, as well as the advances in materials and technologies for preventing and treating caries. Future innovations loom large with the promise of childhoods free of tooth decay.

"What I'm most excited about are technologies, which may already be in the works, that would allow screening of teeth at an early age," says American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) President Joel Berg, DDS, who is also chair of the Center for Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Washington and dental director at Seattle Children's Hospital. He adds that the ideal development would be inexpensive devices that could be used in the office to quickly identify kids at risk. "It would be nice to be able to see under the surface — to see cavities before the surface breaks down," he adds.

According to the article,

"Some are describing early childhood caries (ECC) as an epidemic. In fact, many dentists are reporting that they are seeing high levels of decay across all income levels. Many children with extensive caries require hospital admittance and general anesthesia for treatment. This may seem extreme, but when recommended therapy for a preschooler involves several root canals, general anesthesia is often the safest and least stressful way of dealing with the problem — for everyone. But how has it gotten to this point?"